Eros International and Excel Entertainment jointly present ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA, which is all set to hit the screens on July 15, 2011. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, directed by Zoya Akhtar, ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA stars Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol,Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin in lead roles. The music of the film is given by trio - Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonca. While lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar. Synopsis: 3 young man take a holiday that changes their lives forever Kabir (Abhay Deol) has just met Natasha. 6 months later they are engaged. ;1 He wants to go on an extended bachelor party1 A 3 week road trip with Imraan (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrlttiik Roshan)- his 2 best friends since school. The only problem is Arjun Is too tied up with work. After much emotional blackmail and cajoling the boys set off on a journey they were meaut to take 4 years ago. A fantas holiday they had planned to take after college but never happened. A road trip where each one gets to do the ultimate sport of his choice and the other 2 just have to do it with him. Whether they want to or not! Kabir Imraan and Arjun meet up In Barcelona and set off on an adventure lt will not only make them iron out their differences but also face their , alter their perception, unravel their fabric, force them to break out wx and teach them to seize the day. In other words a holiday that will change their lives forever. Character Sketch: Abhay Deol aa Kabir - A wealthy, young man who works with his father's construction company in Mumbai. Kabir is bright,, articulate and polite. Engaged to Natasha and off on his bachelor trip. Hrithik Roshan as Arjun - A financial trader who works at a huge firm in London. Arjun grew up without a father and seen tough life, his entire focus is to get bigger, better, faster. Reluctant to leave work. He agrees to go on this holiday. Katrina Kaif as Laila - A bohemian fashion student from London. She takes time off to teach diving every year. This year in Spain. She meets up with three young men from India. Kalki Koechlin as Natasha - A filthy rich daughter of a hotelier. She is an interior designer and in love with Kabir. She is slightly nervous about this bachelor trip. Farhan Akhtar as Imraan - A copy writer who works at an advertising agency at Delhi. Imraan is the bohemian, a closet poet. He is looking forward to Spain.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Movie Preview
Eros International and Excel Entertainment jointly present ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA, which is all set to hit the screens on July 15, 2011. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, directed by Zoya Akhtar, ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA stars Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol,Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin in lead roles. The music of the film is given by trio - Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonca. While lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar. Synopsis: 3 young man take a holiday that changes their lives forever Kabir (Abhay Deol) has just met Natasha. 6 months later they are engaged. ;1 He wants to go on an extended bachelor party1 A 3 week road trip with Imraan (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrlttiik Roshan)- his 2 best friends since school. The only problem is Arjun Is too tied up with work. After much emotional blackmail and cajoling the boys set off on a journey they were meaut to take 4 years ago. A fantas holiday they had planned to take after college but never happened. A road trip where each one gets to do the ultimate sport of his choice and the other 2 just have to do it with him. Whether they want to or not! Kabir Imraan and Arjun meet up In Barcelona and set off on an adventure lt will not only make them iron out their differences but also face their , alter their perception, unravel their fabric, force them to break out wx and teach them to seize the day. In other words a holiday that will change their lives forever. Character Sketch: Abhay Deol aa Kabir - A wealthy, young man who works with his father's construction company in Mumbai. Kabir is bright,, articulate and polite. Engaged to Natasha and off on his bachelor trip. Hrithik Roshan as Arjun - A financial trader who works at a huge firm in London. Arjun grew up without a father and seen tough life, his entire focus is to get bigger, better, faster. Reluctant to leave work. He agrees to go on this holiday. Katrina Kaif as Laila - A bohemian fashion student from London. She takes time off to teach diving every year. This year in Spain. She meets up with three young men from India. Kalki Koechlin as Natasha - A filthy rich daughter of a hotelier. She is an interior designer and in love with Kabir. She is slightly nervous about this bachelor trip. Farhan Akhtar as Imraan - A copy writer who works at an advertising agency at Delhi. Imraan is the bohemian, a closet poet. He is looking forward to Spain.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
'Dhobi Ghat' - a stunning debut (IANS Movie Review - Rating: **** 1/2)

Every year literally hundreds of thousands throng to the city of dreams, Mumbai. To cover so many dreams in a small span of an-hour-and-a-half calls for some brilliant filmmaking. And watching 'Dhobi Ghat' will make you realise that there indeed have been very few debuts as stunning as this one.
'Dhobi Ghat' is the story of five characters - Yasmin (Kirti Malhotra), Arun (Aamir Khan), Shai (Monica Dogra), Munna (Prateik Babbar) and the city of Mumbai. After a one night stand with Arun, who is a painter, Shai, an investment banker from America and an amateur photographer, obsesses over him, while her dhobi Munna pines for Shai.
Arun, meanwhile, discovers a few tapes in his flat from the previous tenant and, watching them, falls in love and find a muse in the woman who has made them - Yasmin. Each of the character is thus looking for something in one another, while the fifth character, Mumbai, simply stares blankly at them without comment or prejudice.
One of the best things about the film is its casting. Each of the actors complement the film, its director, and the city of Mumbai perfectly. Each is believable in his or her own garb. Prateik is bound to become the heartthrob of the generation, while Kirti Malhotra's innocence has to be seen to be believed. Real life singer Monica brings out the uncertainty of her character beautifully.
The only one who is a little out of place, and hence the small sore point of the film is actor Aamir Khan. He begins shakily and is self conscious, unable as he is perhaps of shaking away two decades of Bollywood's acting baggage. By the end of it though, he manages to get into the film's rhythm and gives a believable performance.
It is hence not Kiran Rao's luck that she got superstar husband Aamir to act in the film, but Aamir's luck that he is in this film, which will go down in the history of cinema as one of the best character sketches of a city and its people. Very few people in the world have sketched any city with such tender love, care and affection. And to add to the lilting melody that is Mumbai in the film is composer Gustavo Santaolalla who gives a haunting background score.
Director Kiran Rao brilliantly manages to find a physical representation of Mumbai city, in the old woman who blankly stares at all the characters, but says nothing. The metaphor is simple but powerful - Mumbai is a dying, decaying city, but one that is definitely alive and watches over all.
And like the character of Arun who becomes a voyeur into the life of Yasmin, it is Kiran Rao that has played voyeur on the city of Mumbai.
Another good thing about the film is that nowhere does it slacken or lose pace. On the contrary, it unfolds almost like a mystery, like a rose bud, only to scintillate the senses in full bloom. It thus might become the low budget indie Indian film that will finally make money like big-budget Bollywood fare.
In the end though, that wouldn't matter much to the audience who will find themselves somewhere in the film. Each one of the characters in the film is like Mumbai, and Mumbai is like each one of us who inhabit it.